Series 7 consists of Dr. Vonnegut's published and unpublished articles, letters to the editor, papers, reviews, reports, and book/encyclopedia chapters. Many files contain the research and data discussed within the work, as well as correspondence with the editor(s) of publications where work was submitted.
The Subject Files series is an accumulation of material representing Studer's two primary interests: folklore and progressive education. Materials include notes, reprints, typescripts, news clippings, bound newspapers, journals, and writings of others. Of particular interest is a master's thesis by Marilyn Kimball entitled George Edwards: Catskill Folksinger. There is a typescript copy of "Merry Ditties: A Collection of Delectable Songs" from various traditional sources and a reprint of "Catskill Lockup Songs," both by Norman Cazden. Also located in this series is a copy of Herbert Haufrecht's "Woodland Serenade." There are three bound volumes of The New Student, a student run newspaper published and printed out of New York City during the 1920s and edited by Studer prior to his entering Columbia University.
This is an alphabetical letter series of the General Reference collection. The General Reference Collection was created by archivists to hold information on campus history that is not part of any organic record group. The collection contains material from a variety of outside sources, excepts from newspapers and other publications, press releases and promotional materials, and loose university records.
This series features administrative records of Watt Espy's efforts to chronicle every government-sanctioned execution in the United States as part of his Capital Punishment Research Project. Espy was the only full-time employee of this organization although he worked with paid graduate assistants while at the University of Alabama School of Law.
The Watt Espy subject files contain a variety of materials that supplement information in the other series without necessarily being directly related. Researchers will find background information on the history of capital punishment, death penalty statistics, and a few files on crime in general. There are folders devoted to crime and punishment in many individual states and territories, though not all of them are represented. The subject files also contain information on the various methods of execution employed across the country, mainly hanging, gassing, electrocution, and lethal injection. Additionally, there are death penalty-related topics such as physician participation, editorial pieces dealing with ethics of capital punishment, execution of prisoners with low IQs, background materials on the death penalty in early America, and a few assorted death penalty research projects that Espy followed. There are also assorted photos, many of which feature inmates and prisons. Images of identified and unidentified individuals executed are presumed to be the ones that filled the walls of Espy's house.
Series 8 documents the work that Dr. Vonnegut did while employed at SUNY Albany. During his time at SUNY Albany, Dr. Vonnegut taught classes, served on committees, attended conferences, and continued his research concerning weather, lightning, and clouds. Much of the research that Dr. Vonnegut did while at SUNY Albany was done as part of government research projects. Most notable was his work on Project Themis which was conducted by the United States Air Force. The project's main focus was on the modification and structure of clouds and fog but also investigated other areas of research such as raindrop dynamics and atmospheric electrical phenomena
Watt Espy sent and received a significant amount of correspondence as part of his work on the Capital Punishment Research Project. The majority of correspondence, however, was not organized when it arrived at the University at Albany. The archivists elected to arrange it into two groups: files devoted to prominent or regular correspondents, and general correspondence. The former includes key academics (Michael Radelet, Hugo Bedeau, Margaret Vandiver), attorneys (The California Appellate Project, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Ohio Public Defender's Office), death penalty abolitionists and advocacy group executives (Rev. Joe Ingle, Sister Helen Prejean, Henry Schwarzschild), prominent prisoners and their families (Kerry Max Cook, Gary McGivern), and researchers who frequently corresponded with Espy. There were also a small number of files that Espy organized by subject, such as letters to and from prisoners, telephone inquiries, or correspondence relating to executions in a particular state, and the archivists retained this order and kept the files in the first group. The second group includes more infrequent correspondents, usually general inquiries sent to libraries or archives for records relating to individuals executed or for research requests.
This series contains records for professional conferences and meetings arranged and/or attended by Dr. Vonnegut as well as project proposals, reports, correspondence, travel arrangements, conference programs, meeting agendas, registrations and other conference-related items, press release, and records on the classes he taught. Additionally, this series includes papers written by others that Dr. Vonnegut found interesting or pertinent to his research.
This is an alphabetical letter series of the General Reference collection. The General Reference Collection was created by archivists to hold information on campus history that is not part of any organic record group. The collection contains material from a variety of outside sources, excepts from newspapers and other publications, press releases and promotional materials, and loose university records.
This series contains materials about Watt Espy, including his speeches, published and unpublished writings, testimony, portraits, and news clips featuring Espy or quoting him. Of interest are files relating to his unpublished manuscript on juvenile executions and to a small signed portrait and autograph collection, mainly featuring members of the United States Congress. In addition, there are several personal items of Espy's: his typewriter, which he utilized well into the 1990s, his eyeglasses, his hat, and a special award from the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty from 1991.